2013 Scion FRS Denied J02 Recall

[aemravan]

Hey guys, sorry to start a new thread but I think its now to a point where its really not in line with my previous misfire thread as I have found the issue.



quick notes:
-2013 FRS, salvage title car from Florida due to light front end damage.

-Figure out I have an outstanding recall after receiving car
-the mysterious misfire that developed after filling up with a failed valve spring causing one of the valve in #3 cylinder not to fire
-called and made a case with Toyota, asked about salvage vehicle being an issue or not, was told it isn't a problem
-I throw on my new fenders, bumper, hood and lights just to have it looking like a car before I take it down there, these are form a Series 10 front end I bought. Engine harness is FULLY plugged in and installed. Only things unplugged are some lights and side markers that Im still working on.

-Tow the car to toyota, toyota after 4 days calls and says "man it has mis matched vins, there are stuff unplugged from the harness, the motor may have been pulled, we need to get a head quarter rep in to check it out"




A week goes by and I get a call today "bad news.. the rep said we can't work on the car". I asked why is that? And he said "well, its salvaged so its been in a front end wreck, and you can tell that theres a bunch of stuff unplugged so someone has been inside of it" He then went to say, "I mean Im glad to work on it for you, I just need 3 hours of tear down time to diagnose whats wrong with it"




What in the actual fuck? It took everything I have not to speak my mind, instead I asked to get a written denial letter and was told to contact toyota direct as all of this should be updated in my "case file"



I am giving it some time before I call them so that I don't lose my cool and try an handle this as civil as possible. At this point I have no idea what my options are other than I am pretty certain they are 100% in the wrong about denying the recall.

[aemravan]

just spoke with the customer care hotline again about this, they didn't have any of the information that was relayed to me by the dealer.



She had to call the dealer to find out exact details of why it is being denied. Only thing she told me was that "we stand by our regional representatives decision when they come out to assist the dealers in making the determination"



I told her when she hears back from the manager to give me a call.



Just for shits and giggles I asked, so if this does get denied, can I repair the recall items themselves and get reimbursed? She said "only a toyota dealer is able to do so, you cant do it yourself or have a 3rd party perform the recall"

I also informed her that if this does get denied that I want a written letter of denial with all the details and a signature from the toyota rep which I will be passing along to the NHTSA.



I am beyond fucking pissed at this point ... Don't really know what I'm going to do with it if it does get denied. Don't get me wrong, I am more than mechanically able and I am pretty certain that with some time I would probably do a better job replacing everything needed myself... but the point was to have the responsible company do the damn work. FML. I'll wait and see what they come back with..

[evomike]

and this folks is why you do not buy a car with a salvage title for anything but a track car.

[aemravan]

Thanks for the very useful information bud.

Btw, if you were to track this car it would not change the outstanding recall. But yea, thanks.

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[evomike]

no dealership or shop is going to touch your car with it being a salvage and from what the shop is saying a poorly repaired salvage car. You need to properly fix your car or pay someone to fix it before anyone will touch it for the recall, this isn't them denying it to deny it this is a shop covering themselves. It sucks but its the nature of a salvage car.

edit: also I am not even sure if you would be eligible for any recall work with a salvage title.

[aemravan]

A salvage title has no impact on the recall. This is per Toyota. I checked before taking the car in . And for the record, the car is perfectly fine. They are claiming the fog lights not being wired in as "someone already being inside of it ".



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[EAGLE5]

I'm sorry that reality does not meet your desires.

[j3rf]

From what I understand, salvage titles negate any and all warranties with the manufacturer.

[aemravan]

A safety recall has nothing to do with warranty.

And again, if that were the case this would have been denied automatically upon original contact which I initiated specifically to clarify the salvage title issue.

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[EAGLE5]

Get your car in drivable, safe condition then drive it to the dealer. Show them that everything works and all you want is the recall. Otherwise it looks like you're asking them to fix your totally fucked up car, and so they refuse to help. You're not a potential nightmare to them, you actually already are a nightmare to them, so they tell you to fuck off.

[aemravan]

I'm not asking them to wire in my fog lights.
The only outstanding issue with the car is a failed spring, which is a recall item.

If the claim is that I need to put in fender liners and connect fog lights to get the work done to the valve springs then I find it funny..

But i guess I'll wait and see what they say.

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[evomike]

How do you know it’s a broken valve spring and not some random issue within that harness or an underlying issue from when it was wrecked?

[aemravan]

Because the car drove perfectly fine while I did the cosmetic repairs.

If you read my other thread I was finally able to track it down to one of the intake valves on the #3cylinder not opening/closing and in a partially open condition causing a lowcompression/vacuum leak.



This occurred literally out of nowhere after driving just fine. Could there be other damage, like a failed rocker at this point? Absolutely. At this point I wish I just yanked the motor and did the work myself, the car would have been up and running a week ago.

[strat61caster]

Agree with OP assuming engine number could be matched to the recall (it might not be, or no way to verify engine number by Toyota USA would shut down the recall procedure) dealership should have torn down to identify problem as part of the recall, if problem unrelated to recall then the work stops and OP pays for additional repairs, recall proceeds as normal.

jsimon is right though, we don't live in that idealistic world and USA dealers are a total crapshoot on if they can even change your oil correctly.